1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reading apparatus having an MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) reading unit and a scanning unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Checks and personal checks on which information such as a bank number and account number are recorded, have been widely used as a form of payment in retail establishments. A personal check contains magnetic information printed in magnetic ink. A system, which immediately collates the validity of a personal check used in a shop based on the magnetic information, has been studied.
The fixed form bill processing apparatus disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-22878 has a check conveying unit, a check reversing mechanism, a print unit, a magnetic reading unit, a scanning unit, and a control unit. A personal check is inserted from the long side and conveyed in the direction along the short side. A print head of the print unit is mounted on a print carriage and moved along the long side of a personal check. A magnetic head of a magnetic reading unit is mounted on a magnetic head carriage.
The magnetic head carriage and print head carriage are fixed side by side to a guide member. The magnetic head and print head are moved in substantially the same area on the surface of a platen member. The magnetic head carriage is connected to the print carriage through a coupler. In this state, the magnetic head is moved in the direction along the long side of a personal check by a driving mechanism connected to the print carriage.
The magnetic head carriage is further provided with an urging spring and an electromagnet. The urging spring is provided between the magnetic head carrier and magnetic head, and urges the magnetic head toward the platen member to press the magnetic head to the surface of a personal check. The electromagnet brings the magnetic head into contact with and separates from a personal check.
The characters printed on a personal check are read by the scanning unit, and the magnetic information printed in magnetic ink is read by the magnetic head. The image information read by the scanner and magnetic information read by the magnetic head are transferred to and collated by a host computer of a bank that handles the personal check. However, the volume of information is much and a certain transfer time is required. Further, a high-grade high-speed arithmetic element is necessary to handle the image information and magnetic information simultaneously in reading side.
As opportunity of using a personal check is increased, it is demanded to install a compact low cost unit as a reading apparatus for collating a personal check in a shop.